A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the new diffuser for central air conditioning system and the incorporated parts of diffuser namely flower or centre core, core assembly, outer frame, etc. and the method of manufacturing the same.
B. Related Art
In a central air conditioning system, the air is conditioned to a desired temperature at one source is distributed at various places through network of ducts and diffuser is required at every outlet of the duct.
Generally these ducts are of square or rectangular cross section, most probably due to their easy self-resting and properly adjusting nature in corners of the ceiling in the buildings and vehicles, and therefore the diffuser used at the outlet of an distribution duct is also of square or rectangular in shape.
The diffuser fitted at the end of the air distribution duct projects/exposes out from the ceiling of a room or any other space required to be air conditioned and therefore it plays a part in interior decoration or all over look of the room/space.
The diffuser mainly consists of an outer frame having a square/rectangular collar, according to the cross-section of the duct, an outwardly slanting surface at all the four sides projecting downward from the said collars and then a substantially horizontal flange, the outer free edge of which is bent upward, a centre core for blocking/preventing the air stream coming through the duct from escaping out centrally with a force and diffusing it in all sides and one or more intermediate cores provided in between the centre core and each of the intermediate cores are having a square/rectangular collar, an outwardly slanting surface at all the four sides projecting downward from the said collar and then ending into a substantially horizontal flange.
The centre core and the intermediate core (s) are assembled together in a spaced-apart manner, keeping the slanting surfaces parallel to each other with the help of at least a pair of rods/pipes passing through the collars and attached to the collar of the outer frame in a easily detachable manner, and kept in position with the help of biased springs. The outer frame in turn is attached to the outlet of air distribution duct.
The diffusers are manufactured in various sizes to be used according to the size or volume of room or space to be air conditioned. Generally the size of centre core is same in all the diffusers but the number of intermediate cores varies according to the size of the outer frame.
The cores and the outer frame of the existing diffusers are made of four side sections, which are assembled together by using four corner sections. Each side section consists of a vertical portion at top, a downwardly slanting portion in middle and a horizontal flange at the bottom. The slanting portion of each core section and horizontal flange of outer frame is provided with a grooved channel section on its back surface to accommodate the corner sections on assembly. The horizontal flange of each side sections of the outer frame may also be bend upwardly and outwardly at the outer periphery.
The existing diffusers suffer from the following drawbacks:                1. When the diffuser is attached to the duct and the conditioned air is blown through the duct it is noticed that the air is not diffused equally on all sides as the corner sections and the grooved channel sections and ridges at the back surfaces of the cores come in the path of air and disturbs the equal and proper diffusion of air in the path of air and disturbs the equal and proper diffusion of air in all directions. The enclosed collars of the centre core and intermediate core(s) rebounds the air and thereby reducing the flow of air through corners of the diffuser.        2. As the diffuser is manufactured in several pieces and then the various pieces are assembled, thus manufacturing process is cumbersome, time consuming and labour oriented which increases the cost of production.        3. On assembly some times there remains a gap between two side sections, at the corners of the core(s), due to which diffusers are rejected resulting into a big loss of production i.e. material and labour and which increases the cost of production.        4. To avoid gaps at the corner of the core(s) the side sections of the cores are produced with high precision and which increases the cost.        5. Due to the grooved channel sections at the backside section and corner sections used for the assembly of cores the weight of the diffuser is increased which also increases the cost of production.        6. Some time the side sections of each core and outer frame are welded together at corners, to avoid gaps, or corner sections after fixing into the crimped for 3 assembly. The cores are interconnected through connecting strips, welded to the collars of each core. The welding and crimping operations require extra equipment as well as these operations are very time consuming thereby increasing the cost of production.        7. Due to the grooved channel sections and corner sections or ridges and welding spots on the back surface of the core(s) the dust is accumulated therein, which is difficult to clean.        8. The dust is also accumulated in the gaps at the corners on the front surface of the cores, which gives a dirty look to the diffuser and tarnish the interior decoration/look of the room/space.        